Arsene Wenger heaped praise on Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan after their impressive performances in Arsenal‘s 5-1 thumping of Everton. Aaron Ramsey grabbed the headlines with an outstanding hat-trick versus the Toffees but Wenger will perhaps be most delighted with the displays of his two January signings. Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan were both handed their first Premier League starts for Arsenal and the duo were among the Gunners’ standout performers at the Emirates. Mkhitaryan grabbed a hat-trick of assists for his new club and Aubamayang got off the mark for the north London giants with an exquisite finish just before the break.
Asked about Aubameyang’s display, Wenger responded: ‘The quality of his movement was excellent, the quality of his finishing was excellent. ‘He still has some work to do physically. ‘He looks always to give a problem to the defender with his movement. Once he’s in front of you it’s difficult to catch him.’
Asked about his first goal in Arsenal colours, Aubameyang told BT Sport: ‘I was really happy. ‘We won the game in the first-half. The second-half was a little bit different but were all happy.’
Asked about the performance of Mkhitaryan, Wenger replied: ‘He’s a good link player, he works very hard. ‘He looked well accepted by the rest of the team.
Mkhitaryan provided two of the passes from which Aaron Ramsey was able to register his first professional hat-trick and the Armenian international insists he is already enjoying life at the heart of Arsene Wenger’s attack-minded team. ‘We played very good attacking football in the first half. In second it was a bit harder as we were already 4-0 up. ‘We were not as focused as in first half but I can say I really like the way Arsenal plays.’ Ramsey added: If that’s not him [Aubameyang] at 100% we have one hell of a player on our hands. ‘Well done to him he scored on his debut and Miki as well getting a few assists. ‘I am delighted with my first hat-trick and one of the moments to remember. Full credit to the team we played some good attacking football and the game was won.’
‘Well done to him and Mkhi. ‘Hopefully they can help us finish the season strongly.’
Man of the match – Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Arsenal)
